Apple has announced changes to its macOS privacy settings designed to prevent third-party developers from misusing permissions to access message histories. The update follows a specific incident involving Meta's AI agent, Muse, which reportedly accessed user data without explicit consent for that function.
Tech columnist Jason Aten revealed that Muse sent him an unsolicited notification referencing a private thread between him and a co-worker on Apple Messages. Aten stated he had not granted Muse permissions to read his messages, assuming such data remained off-limits. The incident sparked widespread discussion on social media, with many users comparing AI assistants that hold access to calendars, emails, and messages to dangerous power tools like skill saws that can cause significant damage if mishandled.
Meta CTO David Singleton responded to the criticism by explaining the technical requirements for such access. According to Singleton, for Muse to access Apple Messages, a user must manually grant two distinct privileges. The first is full-disk access, a system-level permission in macOS. The second requires enabling a specific Messages connector setting within the Muse application. Apple's new privacy settings aim to address the potential for abuse stemming from these broad permissions.